After losing my Lab 2 years ago this Christmas, I just couldn't take being dogless any longer. My Lab, Bridger hunted with me in the fall of 2012. We lost her that Christmas. I sat last bird season out with the exception of hunting with my brother in law and his Munsterlander. I am too old to be chasing a flushing dog and always had Brittany's before. Well, I was informed of a litter of English setters. My wonderful wife got our names on the list. As fate would have it, the owner of the pups bumped us down for his family and friends. We wanted a female and they were going fast. We went to see the dogs and a black patched beauty stood out head and shoulders above the rest. When the owner ever said "SHE" and "AVAILABLE", it was love at first sight for me. But, I've learned over the years to keep my mouth shut. My wife did all the leg work so I wanted her to pick. When she saw the litter, she picked the SAME puppy.

Here's the mother with the litter. My dog is the first in line.

Ain't nuthin better than puppies and little girls.

Good lookin pup. Enjoy her. Hasbeen

I will echo the sentiments of others. If there is anything in the world better than a puppy, i havent seen it.

If they only knew the hopes and dreams that rested on their little shoulders!


Congrats LBK!

Thanks everyone. But especially to you, Ingwe. I've always enjoyed your posts and your replies to mine. Nan and I have had our share of family problems the last year or so, but just this morning I said to my wife. " Have you noticed that since we've had the puppy, she's been about the only topic of discussion. There IS nothing like a new puppy to occupy time and thoughts. By God, I believe the pup is WAY smarter than me.

Puppies can make you forget a lot of your problems. Beautiful pup, good luck with her.

Those words, my friend are SPOT on!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you.

I love the retriever breeds but you're going to enjoy hunting over that setter. Good looking pup.

I agree with you 110%. For the last 20 years I've hunted ove 2 of the nicest Black Labs one man should ever have. Before that, it was Brittany Spaniels. I am just too old to be able to keep up with a flusher. Hopefully I have enough years left to manage a few more birds over my setter. She seems to have a GREAT personality. Thank you.

There is. Two puppy's!

Read one time a quote "Whoever said money can't buy happiness has never bought a puppy."

Nothing better than watching a bird dog lock up on point and have a rooster pheasant flush out from under its nose when you walk in.

It has been MANY years since I hunted over a pointer and I am dearly looking forward to it. My pup will be 10 weeks old this Saturday and my wife said to me this morning before I left for work, "watch this". My wife sat on the kitchen floor and got the pup's attention. She then rolled a tennis ball across the floor. Maggie took off after it, locked down her puppy teeth and carried the ball right back to my wife. Nont once, but THREE times. I honestly think we picked a good/great one.............Thanks everyone for the replies.

tie a quail wing to a fishing pole, flip it out in the grass and send us some pics of what she does next!

Can I let her "grow" a little first? I have photobucket down to post a pic. I need to figure it out to do the same with a short video. But I'm sure I will do that. Right now, the rolling ball has her attention. I don't know about a toss with a feathered wing. But ONE thing for sure. She makes us happy.

Congrats on the new puppy.

If she fetching a ball with enthusiasm at that ahead should be birdy.

I too would be tossing a wing or even a small pigeon soon if available. I'm a huge fan of getting dogs on birds early and more then once have picked a pup by showing up at the breeders and tossing a live pigeon sans flight feathers in the pen with all the pups at once and see who does what.

09/10 IMHO the ones that go right after the pigeon and try to grab it are the ones I want. Course a lot of guys go for the middle of the road pups and I go for hellions that are adventurous.

My girlfriend wants to raise a pointing pup and setters are high on the list.

LBK, did you give her name yet??

MallardAddict,

I know a guy that has GSP pups that will be available for pick up before the end of June here in the Seattle area.

Yes, Drew. Her name is Maggie.

she sure is cute! Gonna be a great hunting partner!

I hope so. She's already smarte'n me!!!!!!!!!!!

That is one beautiful pup!

I see you are from NH so I will through this out to you. If you ever get to Hancock and Washington Counties in Maine please give me a call or look me up in person and I will show you on the Delorme as many covers as you would like to hunt with that pup. Great woodcock and grouse hunting in my area and me and my GSP are always looking to share with others.

That's one of the nicest offers I've had iin a long time. Thanks

LBK

Just saw your post. Wishing you, the Wife and Maggie nothing but the best of times. Throw some pics up of you guys doing your thing this coming fall.

I will do that and thank you. We had her out this past Saturday in a field where my very FIRST Brittany ran. Here is is almost 40 years later and we're doing it again. I had her on a 30' check cord and very quickly realized it was not needed. Already, I know she's smarter than I am.

I just wanted to follow up with a report on Maggie's progression. I spent most of my time playing fetch and sit/stay games with her. There's still lots of "puppy" left in her, but she just LOVES to please.

At any rate her first actual hunting started on Oct. 1st. We found no birds and I mostly watched how she behaved. She spent most of her time running faster than her nose. The next afternoon we were at it again. Now we got into some birds. She was STILL running and I tried to slow here with low tone commands but she was still bumping the birds and my aim was not good. I was paying too much attention to her and worrying about what the gun blast would do to her. She was not bothered by the gun and that in itself made me happy. I think we flushed 7 birds and I only got shots at 3 of them because of all the leaves still on the trees. She hadn't actually pointed one of them yet. UNTIL the last bird. It seemed like it all came together at once. A rock solid point. She let me go in and flush the bird. BINGO,,,,,,,,,,one for the pot.




After that one bird, she began to catch on. Still very much a puppy, but my bestest bird hunting buddy.

And the journey begins. The first point, successful shot and retrieve is a moment to remember. Congrats.

Two out of three...............Off to a good start. After my last Lab, I never thought I could love another dog. NOT true.............. Thank you battue..........

She is beautiful...

Thank you. She got me another this afternoon. I can't believe how well she is doing.

Nice going. I'm very happy for you. Keep it up.

I just happy that at my age God gave me a dog that puts fun back into hunting. SHE makes all the difference in the world.

Looks like you and your wife, chose wisely!

Maggie is a good looking girl!

Thank you. Believe me when I say, I'm happy as a clam. This is her last night. We got two in a row. Albeit one is a hen. Pouring rain. We're BOTH soaked to the bone.

This is VERY COOL LBK!


Its been a long time since I hunted behind a bird dog. When mine passed, I sold my shotguns and gave it up. If I couldn't hunt behind her, I didn't want to hunt.

Perhaps that was a mistake!


This is my dog 'Robin' as a pup...a long time ago in a galaxy far far away.....




And Robin on a grouse hunt...







Nowadays the dogs I am around hunt bigger game.

Nope,,,,,,,,,,,,,no mistake. I know that feeling well............... We raised Brittany's for years. My favorite, Lady, gave her life to cancer, but hunted the DAY before she passed. To this day her collar and bell hangs on my gun rack. Then there were two Black Labs. BOTH held a special place in my heart. Those two dogs are gone and their bells hang as well. I LOVE hunting with a dog. A dog never complains and usually let you know who's the boss in the field. I am just too old to keep up with a flusher and too young to want to stop hunting. It was 2+ years that I was dogless and I had a void that needed to be filled. Maggie has filled that void in spades. She lives to please and hunts her heart out. I taught my son long ago to trust the dog. You may THINK you know more about hunting birds than your dog but the sooner you realize the dog knows best, the happier hunter you'll be.

GOD, Ingwe, those pictures jerk at my heart strings. I love those little pink nosed pointers..............

Yeah, I still have her collar and tags, and that of the one and only Ingwedog- that one dog of a lifetime.

But I noticed my baby pic of Robin has my foot in it, and I mentioned the dogs I hang out with now hunt bigger game.

Fast forward 30+ years....

"Rommel" aka Mauser Vom Wildhaus.




And all grown up...open for business








Odd...the twists our lives take.

I like this pic the best!

The shepherd is a GREAT dog. This pic of Maggie is one of my favorites as well. I just can't believe nobody wanted her. I call ber balck but I quess blue is the correct term. Everyone wanted the red and white coloration. I saw Maggie ( I already picked the name beforehand) and fell in love. I kept my mouth shut and let Nancy pick. She picked the SAME pup. Funny what dogs can do to you.

Well, it looks like she is living up to all the hopes and dreams I mentioned in my first post on this thread!
Enjoy the ride!

I value your input AND opinions. You're "tell it like it is" is what I look forward to. Have a great rest of the year.

Glad to hear the dog is doing her job -- making you happy!

A medical doctor friend of mine often prescribes getting a dog for mild depression, or if somebody has to face cancer and does not already have a dog. He is pretty serious about it too.

According to him, studies (a number of them done in nursing homes) show that just the "feel good" feeling of petting a dog lowers blood pressure, and having a dog improves immune system function.

Hell, just opening a "I got a new puppy!" thread like this one probably lowers my blood pressure 10 points!

John

Maggie continues to grow her love of the hunt. She really has become everything I had hoped she would. I never dreamed I could be this old and still be able to have this much fun.

I LOVE your dog..................

Great picture! Looks like both of you are having a ball!

YES WE ARE,,,,,,,,,,,,,and thank you.

Cool-looking dog!

For some reason, the dogs with a patch on one eye seem to appeal to me.

Glad to hear that your dog is adding to your life. In my experience, they always do.

John

LBJ,

Somehow missed this when you started it. Looks like you two are are working out well together. Great pics and hope you have another great fall.

As usual looking forward to your Anticosti Deer hunt. Always one of the yearly campfire high points.

Addition: Loooooking back, I see I did see it.

Thank you. Some of YOU guys here add to my life as well. Anticosti is closing in. Nan and I did our paperwork for the guns last night.

I too look forward to your Anticosti trip notes and pics. Was thinking of this year but rumors of the "winterkill" and first year in retirement kept me grounded. Maybe for my 65th in 2016!

I also hunted with labs most of my life. 12 years ago I got my first setter and love them all but my setters seem to have a personality about them. You are gonna have a joyous ride. She is one pretty setter.

Rob

Thank you. She DOES have personality............. FOR SURE!!!!

LBK: Im glad to see this thread resurrected! Nice to see the setter is progressing as hoped!

She's "progressing" and I'm,,,,,,,,,,,well,,,,,,,,,,,,,just gettin' old!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BTW, Thank you as well.

I, too, love my setters! They are great companions. May you both share long, happy lives . . .
Frm

Nothing better than a setter!